Johann Georg von Holstein

Portrait of Johann Georg von Holstein

Johann Georg von Holstein (born February 16, 1662 in Möllenhagen , † December 26, 1730 in Copenhagen ) was a senior civil servant of German origin in the Danish civil service. Among other things, he was Oberlanddrost in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst and Privy Councilor .

Life

origin

Holstein was the younger son of the noble landowner Johann von Holstein zu Möllenhagen, Speck and Groß Luckow (1618–1675) from the Möllenhagen house of the Mecklenburg and Pomeranian noble family Holstein and his wife Sophie Hedwig née. von Petersdorff (1629–1693). The Holstein family produced several leading officials in the Danish state in the 17th and 18th centuries. Ulrich Adolph von Holstein (1664–1737), later Danish liege count and Danish chancellor from 1721 to 1730 , was his cousin and worked with him in Copenhagen.

career

After studying law at the University of Rostock and a subsequent educational trip through England , Holland and France , Holstein first became a chamberlain at the Mecklenburg court in Schwerin and from 1688 entered Danish services, where he worked in the same function at the court in Copenhagen. There he rose quickly. In 1693 he became court master of King Christian V. Three years later, on June 11, 1696, he took over the office of Landdrosten in Ammerland in the county of Oldenburg, which belongs to Denmark. He also managed the Apen office , the Zwischenahn bailiwick and later also the Neuchâtel department with the Bockhorn and Zetel bailiffs .

In the meantime, he was appointed head of the budget for the Danish counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst on December 16, 1699. He gave up this office towards the end of 1705 after disputes with Christoph Gensch von Breitenau , the President of the General-Landes-Commission and leader of the Landmilitia , and the governor Gustav Wilhelm von Wedel in the counties. From January 1706 he was, partly as court master of the Crown Prince, the later King Christian VI. , partly as deputy for finance, active in Copenhagen. Although there were differences over Denmark's re-entry into the Great Northern War in 1709, he also had a major influence on the current Danish King Frederick IV .

Holstein actually rejected Denmark's re-entry into the war, but advocated the occupation of the ducal portion of Schleswig by Denmark. He wanted to compensate for the increasing opposition to Russia , from which the ducal parts of Schleswig and Holstein were ruled, by moving closer to England . He has been repeatedly chosen to represent Denmark's interests as a negotiator. In 1712 he was appointed a Privy Councilor and a member of the Conseil , and in 1713 he was appointed bailiff of the Tondern office . Holstein, who, like many of the Germans who immigrated to Denmark, was a pietist , was also appointed chairman of the newly founded Royal Mission College . In 1705 he was awarded the Dannebrogden and in 1722 with the highest Danish order, the Elephant Order .

Holstein was buried in St. Peter's Church in Copenhagen.

family

Holstein was married twice. On May 2, 1693 he married Ida Frederikke Joachime von Bülow (1677–1725), the daughter of the Chamberlain and Adjutant General Christian Bülow (1643–1692) and his wife Ollegaard nee. Barnewitz (1653-1729). After her death, Holstein married on November 5, 1727 Charlotte Amalie von Plessen (1686–1740), the widow of the Danish field marshal and governor general of Western Pomerania and Rügen Jobst Scholten and daughter of Lieutenant General Samuel Christoph von Plessen and Catherine Margarethe Elisabeth, née von Dalwig (1654-1726).

From the first marriage came the sons of Johan Ludvig (1694–1763), who later also became a Danish privy councilor and rose to become chancellor , and Carl (1700–1763), who was, among other things, the Danish special envoy in St. Petersburg.

literature

• Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , p. 324 ( PDF; 4.6 MB ).